As disclosed in, for example, cited document 1, conventionally known drives devices of this type are configured to drive a roof panel (object to be driven) from which a part of a vehicle sunroof apparatus is constituted by the push-pull operation of a drive cable. The drive device of cited document 1 comprises a case for housing a gear mechanism for decelerating the rotational speed of a motor and an output shaft rotatably supported with respect to the case. One end of the output shaft protrudes from the case. A pinion gear from which part of a driving-side meshing part is constituted is fixed to this end of the output shaft. In addition, teeth from which the driven-side meshing part is constituted and which mesh with the pinion gear are formed in the outer circumferential surface of a cable. The cable is inserted and held in a guide pipe fixed to a plate member on which the drive device is mounted. The cable inserted in the guide pipe is disposed in such a way that the teeth thereof mesh with the pinion gear.
According to the aforementioned drive device, when the rotational force of the motor is translated to the output shaft by way of the gear mechanism and the pinion gear rotates, the cable is moved along the direction of its center line while being guided and caused to slide along a predetermined track within the guide pipe.    Cited Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application No. 2006-168531